


Love Brought Me Home

by cvstielwinchester



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: 3x15 coda, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, eddie begins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23869204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cvstielwinchester/pseuds/cvstielwinchester
Summary: Buck couldn’t breathe. All he could feel was panic as he attempted to dig through the dirt with his bare hands. He collapsed helplessly onto Bobby who was trying to calm him down as he broke down sobbing. His boyfriend was trapped 50 feet underground and the lightening had just made their rescue a million times more complicated.OrEddie Begins but Buck and Eddie are already dating.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan “Buck” Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 228





	Love Brought Me Home

_“EDDIE!!! EDDIE!!!!_ EDDIE!!!! _EDDIE!!!”_

Buck couldn’t breathe. All he could feel was panic as he attempted to dig through the dirt with his bare hands. He collapsed helplessly onto Bobby who was trying to calm him down as he broke down sobbing. His boyfriend was trapped 50 feet underground and the lightening had just made their rescue a million times more complicated.

“Come on, Buck.” Bobby pulled him up off the ground. “I know you’re scared but I need you to focus. We’re gonna get him out of there.”

“Bobby, I-“

“I know, kid, I know.” Bobby’s voice was sympathetic, but authoritative. He knew what needed to be done and he knew it wasn’t going to be easy on his son figure but they had their jobs to do and they had to keep fighting. “Go wash up. I need you to go wash your hands and take some deep breaths. We’re not giving up yet.”

Buck felt completely numb. As everyone scrammed to make a plan to get Eddie out of the hole, he felt almost robotic, his mind playing the worst-case scenario on repeat. What was he supposed to tell Christopher? How was he supposed to explain to the kid, who had already lost his mom last year, that his dad wasn’t coming home?

No, he couldn’t think like that. Eddie was coming home. Buck wasn’t going to lose his boyfriend and Christopher wasn’t going to lose his father. He listened as Bobby gave instructions on how to proceed the search.

 _“Won’t be easy.”_ A familiar voice called out, staggering toward them.

Buck’s head snapped up.

 _Eddie._ He was alive. He was wet and covered in dirt and looked like he was about to pass out onto the ground but he was alive.

“I’m pretty cold.” Eddie muttered, completely out of breath, just before collapsing onto the dirt.

“Eddie!” Buck ran towards him and grabbed onto his hand, tightly, helping him up as Bobby grabbed onto his other side. Buck’s heart is racing but he feels like he can finally breathe for the first time in the last couple hours.

“Come on, Eddie.” Hen says with relief as she starts to lead them away from the crowd. “Let’s get you checked up, buddy, so we can get you home.”

“I got a big date Friday.” Eddie’s voice was rough as he took deep breaths with every word. “I can’t miss it.”

Buck let out a small laugh, extremely relieved to hear his voice. He didn’t let go of Eddie’s hand the entire time Hen checked him over. Towards the end of it, he felt his boyfriend lean into his side and instinctively wrapped his arm around him.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Buck squeezed Eddie’s shoulders as he whispered into his ear. “You’re okay, babe. You’re safe now.”

“He’s definitely hypothermic and has a mild concussion but he’s gonna be fine. We should get him to the hospital so they can check on him more thoroughly, though.” Hen was speaking to everyone on the team but her gaze was directed at Bobby then turned to Buck who nodded.

“Alright, lets go.” Bobby commanded as Buck, Hen and Chim already started helping Eddie up into the firetruck.

Eddie was half out of it as the placed him on the gurney, his hand still grabbing onto Buck’s. He could feel himself about to pass out from exhaustion but he heard a voice in his ear, forcing him to stay awake.

“You gave us all quite a scare there, Eds.” Buck let out a soft chuckle but the pain in his voice was evident. “But you did it. Hayden’s safe and you’re safe and you’re going to get to go home and see Chris soon.”

Eddie lifted his head slightly at the mention of his son. Before he had gone down to rescue Hayden he called Carla, letting her know that it would be a late night so she had agreed to spend the night in their guest room to watch Christopher.

“Christopher..” He muttered, already ready to get out of there and go home to hug the hell out of his kid.

Buck continued repeating reassurances while Chimney made sure Eddie continued to remain stable until they arrived at the hospital, about ten minutes later. Buck felt his heart clench as the doctors took over and guided the gurney with Eddie inside while he was forced to stand outside the doors, just like always.

“Hey.” Buck turned around to see Bobby standing behind him. Finally able to let his guard down, he let himself fall into Bobby’s arms and let out the sobs of relief he’s been holding in since they found him.

“I really thought I lost him.” His voice and body both shook as he spoke. “I was so scared.”

“I know, kid.” Bobby’s arms held him tightly, keeping Buck steady. “But he’s okay. You said it yourself, he’s okay. He made it out.”

Buck continued to cry for the next few minutes as the older man stayed silent. While he knew that Eddie was fine and there was nothing to worry about anymore, his brain was still processing just how close he came to losing his partner and he was still trying to get himself to believe that it didn’t happen.

Bobby guided Buck into the waiting room where the other two members of the 118 were already waiting for an update on their friend. Hen and Chim spoke quietly to each other while Bobby sat next to Buck in silence, letting him work through his emotions and process his thoughts.

“Family of Edmundo Diaz?”

“Uh, that’s us.” Buck stood up alongside everyone else as the nurse walked over to them. “I’m his boyfriend.”

“They had to treat him for hypothermia but he’s going to be fine.” She informed them. “He also had a few broken ribs as well as a grade 1 concussion and he’s very lucky that that’s all it was. We’re keeping him overnight for observation since he lost oxygen for a while but he should be released home in the morning. You can go in and see him. He’s in room 113.”

Buck gave her a grateful smile and walked quickly ahead the rest of his team, making his way to Eddie’s room. He opened the door to see Eddie hooked up to the different hospital machines and clearly exhausted, but looking a lot better than he had an hour ago. Eddie glanced up as Buck entered, taking in the sight of him and they could both feel themselves relax a little bit.

“Hey.” Buck grabbed a chair and moved closely to Eddie’s side, planting a small kiss on his lips before sitting down and resting his hand on his arm. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I just got 100 pounds of wet earth dropped on top of me.” Eddie joked weakly, not missing how Buck winced as everyone else filed into the room.

“You know now we can add it to the list of near-death experiences we’ve all had.” Chimney pipes up, teasing. “Welcome to the team.”

Everyone but Buck lets out a small chuckle and Eddie, Chim, and Hen start joking around with each other. Even Bobby lets out a few laughs, glad to see that his team has made it through tonight’s high scale events and can now relax, even at a hospital. Buck stays uncharacteristically quiet the entire time and keeps glancing at Eddie, almost as if he’s trying to make sure that he’s really there and not going to disappear at any given moment.

About an hour later, it’s midnight and Bobby left to walk Hen and Chimney out so that they can head home to their families. For the first time all day, Buck and Eddie are actually alone.

“You know I gotta admit, babe, you look worse than I do.” Eddie squeezes Buck’s hand as his boyfriend refuses to meet his gaze. “You okay?” He asks softly.

“You’re the one who almost died.” Buck stared down at a patch of dirt on the uniform he was still wearing as he held back the tears threatening to spill once again.

“That’s not what I asked, Evan.” Eddie gives Buck’s hand another squeeze, trying to get him to look at him.

The use of his first name acts as a trigger as Buck clasps his free hand over his mouth, trying to take a deep breath as the tears come spilling out.

“You almost _died_ , Eddie.” Buck blinked as he tried to stop the stinging in his eyes. “I- I didn’t know what to do, I thought you might’ve been- I thought I lost you. I panicked. Hell, I tried to dig you out of there with my bare hands. I didn’t wanna give up but I was so scared Bobby was gonna tell me that there was no choice or that they were gonna pull your body out or something and you’d be gone. A- and I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to say to Christopher if we'd lost you.”

“I’m sorry I scared you but I didn’t have a choice, Buck, you know that.” Eddie reminded him, swallowing quickly to clear the lump in his throat.

“I know.” Buck shut his eyes trying to force himself to calm down before he spoke again. “I wanted to go down and get you but Bobby made Chim do it instead.”

Eddie nods, not at all surprised, but still relieved. He knew there was no way Bobby would’ve let Buck down to help him because of the reckless tendencies Buck had, especially when it came to helping other people and the thought of the love of his life stuck down there with him made him feel sick to his stomach. He stays silent for a moment then picks up the Saint Christopher medal, which was laying on the bedside table beside him.

“Shannon got this for me when Chris was born. It’s a Saint Christopher medal.” He tells him, handing it to Buck. “I was heading back to Afghanistan a week later and she told me that it would keep me safe.”

Buck takes the medal, wordlessly, and stares at it while he waits for Eddie to continue.

“I kept fighting because I knew I had Christopher and I had you to come back to. You guys were the ones who kept me going and I’ll always do my damned best to make it back to both of you.”

Buck lets out a deep breath, accepting that and he hands the medal back to Eddie who puts it back on the table and takes both of Buck’s hands in his. Buck pulls back one of his hands to place it on Eddie’s cheek as he leans in. Their lips press together and all the tension in Buck’s shoulders finally melts away.

“I love you.” Buck whispers against Eddie’s lips, as they rest their foreheads together. “So much.”

“I love you, too.” Eddie replies, rubbing his thumb against Buck’s cheek. “So much.”

For the first time in the past 14 hours, Buck lets out a small but genuine, happy laugh now that he’s certain everything is going to be okay.

“You should go home and change, baby.” Eddie tells him gently. “It’s late.”

Buck looks hesitant, clearly not having any desire to leave no matter how dirty and uncomfortable his uniform has become.

“Go ahead, Buck.” Bobby enters behind them, taking a seat in the chair placed at the opposite end of the room. “I’ll wait here with him.”

Buck nods, feeling a little better knowing that Eddie won’t be by himself while he’s gone. He gives Eddie another peck on the lips before thanking Bobby for staying and exits.

Instead of driving to his apartment, Buck decides to drive to Eddie’s. It’s a little farther away but since he has clothes there too, he figures this way he can check on Christopher and grab a pair of clean clothes for Eddie to change into when he leaves tomorrow.

When he pulls into the driveway, he notices a light still on inside the house. Buck enters as quietly as possible and sees Carla sitting on the couch with a show playing softly in the background.

“Hey there, Buckaroo.” She greets him quietly, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. Buck had texted her from the waiting room earlier updating her on what was going on and Bobby had called her again later, letting her know that Eddie would be staying the night but that he was okay. Luckily, Christopher was fast asleep by the time Carla was notified with everything and he was still blissfully in the dark about what happened.

“Hey.” He responds with a small smile. “I’m just here to change and uh, get some clothes for Eddie.”

“How’s he doing?” Carla asks in that sweet, caregiving tone she always has.

“He’s good.” Buck shoots her a soft smile, knowing that it’s actually true. “He’ll be home in the morning he just has to take it easy so he’s gonna be okay.”

“And are you okay?” She presses. She knows Buck well enough to know there was no way he could have responded to Eddie being trapped well.

Buck takes a second but nods, genuinely at ease after his conversation at the hospital. “Yeah, I actually am.”

“Good.” Carla smiles back at him, happy to know both her boys were fine. “I’m glad to hear you’re both alright.”

“Me too.” Buck runs his hands through his hair, grateful that everything worked out. “I’m gonna go take a shower before heading back to the hospital.” He informs her as he starts walking back to the bathroom.

“Alright well I’m going to head on to bed. I guess I’ll see you in the morning when you bring the patient back home.” Carla follows him into the hall but stops at the first door on the right, the guest room.

“Yeah, thanks, Carla.” Buck shoots her a grateful glance.

“No need to thank me.” Carla shushes him before closing the door. “I look out for all three of you.”

Before heading into Eddie’s room to grab a fresh pair of clothes, Buck stops at Christopher’s room. The boy is sleeping soundly in his bed, peaceful as ever. Buck smiles softly and heads into Eddie’s room.

Free to finally wash off all the dirt and evidence of the extremely long day, the shower he takes that night is one of the best ones he’s ever had.

When morning comes and Eddie’s finally discharged, Buck drives them both back to the house and a serenity washes over them as they’re finally able to put yesterday’s events behind them. Eddie hugs Christopher a little tighter and a little longer than usual and not only is it a sense of relief, it’s a reminder that he made it home safely. No matter what happens, he will always fight his damned hardest to make it home safely.

**Author's Note:**

> It's almost a week late but i've been thinking about this idea since I watched the episode and after reading the other codas I figured it's my turn to put one out there. Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also the title comes from the song Matters by Cierra Ramirez.
> 
> Follow me on twitter if you want @buckleyscas


End file.
